


Refuge

by wisting



Series: Brothers of War [1]
Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: F/M, Gen, family stuff, kid Johnsons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-05 13:40:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1094527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisting/pseuds/wisting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically this will be a bunch of same universe stories, which will probably end up related but not connected. It started out as being about Anders's 21st, but I kept going backwards and it sort of blew up in my face. So let's see how Anders started being Anders.</p><p>In other words, how Anders lost his virginity.</p><p>Chapter 3: Elisabet finds out - sort of. Axl is a precious baby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dandelionpower](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dandelionpower/gifts).



> because she's an awesome possum person. hope you like it ^^

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're twenty-one and still a virgin? How's that possible these days?

It’s a Friday night, it’s late, and Mike and Ty are still up. Elisabet’s away visiting their grandmother in Hamilton for ten days, taking Axl with her. Rob’s on a date with Val, so Mike winds up on the sofa at home watching old reruns with Ty, who’s delighted at the chance to stay up late. Mike’s kind of sleepy, but Anders isn’t back yet and Mike’s getting worried.

“Isn’t Anders coming back soon?” says Ty a little sleepily.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s past twelve already.”

“I’ll mess him up when he gets back. You go on to bed.”

Just then, a knock comes on the door.

“And here he is,” says Mike. Ty following at his heels, he goes to the door and opens it. “Where have you been?”

“Around,” says Anders, wandering in. “Man, I’m thirsty.” Weaving his way into the kitchen, he grabs himself a glass of water and drops onto a chair.

Mike narrows his eyes. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.” Anders almost giggles.

“You’re drunk,” says Mike in disgust. “Where’d you get the booze?”

“Party.”

“Whose party?” asks Ty.

Anders blinks at him owlishly. “Big party.”

“Yeah, whose?”

“That’s need to know information and you don’t need to know.”

“Go to bed, Anders,” says Mike, rolling his eyes. “And I don’t care how hung-over you are tomorrow, you’ve still got to do the backyard.”

But Ty is squinting at Anders. “It’s not just the drink, is it?” he says to Anders, who doesn’t notice that Ty’s talking to him as he gulps down the water.

Mike frowns. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, but it’s not just drunk. Anders doesn’t get this happy when he’s drunk.”

“Drugs, you mean?” Mike grabs Anders by the shoulders. “Anders. Are you stoned?”

“Get off, Mike,” says Anders, but his flash of annoyance rapidly disappears in another laugh. “No, I’m not stoned.”

“Drugs and alcohol don’t mix, Anders!”

“I said I’m not stoned! Sheesh, get off my back, will you?”

“Then what’s up?”

Anders grins up at him, a happy, loopy grin. “Let’s just say … parties take place in houses.”

“Big surprise,” says Ty.

“And houses … have bedrooms.”

“Oh.” Mike groans. “Oh, no.”

Ty’s eyes widen. “You mean…”

Anders laughs again, his cheeks reddening. “Uh huh. And let me tell you, Ty, it is …”

“Out, Ty,” orders Mike.

“Why?” demands Ty.

“Because you’re eleven. Out!”

“I already know what sex is, Mike!”

“Yeah, but there’s no way you’re learning about it from Anders. Go to bed.”

“I want to stay,” says Ty stubbornly. “Who was it, Anders?”

Anders shakes a finger at him. “It’s got to be a secret.”

“I won’t tell.”

“’Kay, then I’ll tell you. But not Mike. Just you, baby bro.”

Mike rolls his eyes but doesn’t move to drag Ty out.

“Well?” says Ty.

“Sara Carlsen.” Anders starts laughing again. “And let me tell you, she’s so not a brunette at _all_ , and I know this because –”

“Okay, that’s it,” says Mike. “Ty, upstairs. Now.” This is the last thing he needs, a drunk Anders trying to teach Ty about sex when Anders himself is not quite fifteen, and Mike can’t help thinking of words like _underage_ and _intoxicated_ and _incapable of consent_. This is not how he envisioned his life, being nineteen and having to interrogate his brother to make sure he wasn’t raped, because their dad shot through years ago and their mother’s away.

“Sara Carlsen?” says Ty, open-mouthed. “You slept with Sara Carlsen?”

Anders nods wisely. “Hottest chick in school.”

“Something wrong, Ty?”

Ty looks up at him. “Sara’s in Year 12. And she’s Pete Henderson’s girlfriend.”

“Not m’ fault, she came on to me.”

Mike groans. Could this get any worse?

He should have learnt by now not to ask stupid questions like that. Of course it could. “Pete is captain of the rugby team,” says Ty.

“Oh, _great_. Good work, Anders!”

“That’s why shh,” says Anders happily. “No snitching on me, ’kay, Ty?”

“Bed _now_ , Ty,” says Mike in the voice of one driven to his limits. Taking the subtle hint, Ty leaves.

“Anders, look at me.” Mike bends down so he’s at Anders’s eye level. “How drunk are you?”

“I don’t want to look at you,” complains Anders. “You’re not as pretty as Sara.”

“How drunk are you?”

“Little bit.”

“What happened?”

“Shoot, Mike, I thought you know what happens …” Anders forms a circle with one hand and tries to poke a finger through it but misses, laughing like it’s the funniest thing in the world.

“I don’t mean that, dickhead. This was your first time, wasn’t it?”

Anders wrinkles his nose like he’s trying to decide whether to admit it, but finally he nods.

“Were you drunk when she pulled you into the bedroom?”

“Little bit.”

“Anders, this is serious. You’re underage, she’s eighteen – it could be rape.”

Anders bursts out laughing, and that’s pretty much the end of the conversation. In the end Mike hauls Anders up to bed, Anders being incapable of much more than a description of Sara Carlsen’s breasts. He’ll talk to Anders in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit of violence, bit of swearing. Anders is a world-class idiot, but he's also a child.

But in the morning, Anders only brushes off his concerns. “I was drunk-ish, she was tipsy, big deal. I’m fine, Mike, can you stop being a wet blanket?”

“And Pete Henderson?”

Anders hesitates. “He won’t find out.”

“You’re sure of that how, exactly?”

“He won’t,” says Anders, but Mike sees the uncertainty. 

* * *

For a while though, it seems like Anders is right. Nothing happens. Elisabet comes home with Axl on her hip, looking less tired. Axl’s running about and laughing, telling them about the cool tricks their aunt showed him. Everything settles back to normal … almost.

Anders isn’t quite the same after that. Not that he walks more like a man and not a boy, or that he gets more confident or stupid crap like that.

In fact it’s sort of the opposite.

After a week or so, Anders gets more absent-minded, more disconnected from everyone. Even a little quieter. It’s most obvious in school, so Mike doesn’t know a thing. When Ty catches Anders staring at Sara Carlsen from across the field during break he thinks he understands, especially when she happens to glance around and immediately turns her back with a flick of her long hair.

A few days later he glimpses Anders pulling Sara behind the sporting equipment shed.

“Let go of me!”

“I just want to talk!”

Their voices fade as they get further away. Ty looks around for Pete Henderson; Pete’s staring at the shed, frowning. He looks more puzzled than suspicious, but Ty doesn’t like it.

* * *

“Get away from me, you idiot,” hisses Sara, a hint of fear in the way she glances around. “If Pete sees this –”

“So what, you’re going to ignore me from now on?”

“Yes, Anders, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Don’t talk to me in public again, got that?”

“So we can talk in private?”

Sara turns on him. “What did you think? That I was going to break up with Pete for you? Take a look at yourself. Pete is going to go places, do things. He’s already had offers from the All Blacks. And he’s filthy rich.”

“I don’t know,” says Anders, “I don’t know, but you can’t just ignore me like this! You said … all that stuff you said … and you were really into … I mean, after what we, you know …”

“I know. I was there,” Sara says coldly. “That doesn’t mean anything. We’re done, got it? _That’s_ done. There never was a we.”

“But –”

“Don’t talk to me again. Ever.”

She turns on her heel and walks away. Anders stands there and watches her go. It doesn't mean anything.

Anders is a fast learner.

* * *

It happens the next day. Pete Henderson and two of his mates get on the bus.

“Here, you two,” says the driver. “George I know, but who are you?”

“Project,” says Pete. “We’re going to his house to work on it.” The driver sniffs but lets them on.

Pete and his mates swagger towards the back of the bus, ignoring Ty and Anders as they pass by. Ty hopes that they actually have a project, but there’s something insolent in the way Pete is walking, and there’s the way Anders’s knuckles are turning white.

“Anders …”

Anders ignores him.

The bus empties slowly. With every person who gets off, Ty’s apprehension grows. He doesn’t dare to turn around. The three of them are talking and laughing like nothing’s wrong. George Newland is usually still on the bus when they get off, but …

Finally it’s their stop. There’s hardly anyone left on the bus – that’s what comes of living on a farm and not being too flush with cash. With a shove from Anders, Ty hurriedly scrambles off the bus, Anders close behind. They’re almost home. It’s going to be okay.

But then there’s sounds of other people getting off too. Their voices are loud, deliberate. Ty knows who they are but starts to turn. Anders grabs him by the elbow.

“Don’t look, you moron!”

“They’re getting off.”

“I’m not deaf, I can hear them. Walk faster,” says Anders.

“Why were they on the bus?”

“How would I know?” snaps Anders.

“Why are you so worked up?” says Ty. Anders’s fingers are digging painfully into his arm.

“I’m not!”

“You are! Why?”

“Fine! He knows, all right?”

“He knows?” repeats Ty, dread curling in the pit of his stomach now that his fears are confirmed. Anders only admits to anything when he can’t hide it any longer. “Is he going to come after you?”

“I can handle it,” says Anders defiantly, but Ty can tell he’s lying.

“Oy! Johnson!”

“Shit, run!” Dropping Ty’s arm, Anders makes a dash for it. The two of them keep pace, the pavement thundering by under their feet, but the three guys chasing them are big and fast, and it’s useless. The footsteps behind them draw nearer and nearer, and Ty never forgets what Anders does just before they catch up – he shoves Ty hard away from him, sending him to the ground but safely away from the one-way fight.

Because that’s what it is. Anders doesn’t stand a chance – never did. Grabbing him by the collar, Pete punches him squarely in the face before George kicks the back of his knees, making Anders fall painfully to the ground on his knees. The next blow knocks him over on his side with a cry of pain. They’re all over him, raining punches and kicks, and Ty sees the blood.

“Ty!” yells Anders, the naked panic in his voice terrifying Ty. “Ty, help me!”

“Such a loser, Johnson,” sneers Pete, delivering another kick to Anders’s stomach. “Are you seriously calling for your little brother’s help?”

“Bet he needed baby brother’s help to bang Sara too,” says Tom Reese, sniggering, but subsides immediately when Pete pins him with a death glare. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“Leave him alone!” shouts Ty, scrambling to his feet. He doesn’t dare to try tackling any of them. Anders is curled up into a ball, trying to shield himself from the blows coming from all directions, and his older brother looks so small it scares Ty even more. “Leave him alone, you arseholes!”

“Or what, kid?” says Pete, taking his attention off Anders for a moment.

“I’ll get the neighbours.”

“You do and I’ll –”

Ty takes off, yelling, “Mr Jeffrey! Mr Jeffrey!”

He keeps screaming for all he’s worth as he rounds the corner. He isn’t lying, he’s an immensely fast runner – it comes from being chased around the farm by Mike for a joke and Anders for revenge, usually. Behind him, he hears an attempted chase, then Pete yelling, “Forget it! We’re done here anyway. You come near my girlfriend again, you little prick, and you’ll think this was fun compared to what will happen next.” There’s another cry of pain from Anders. “Let’s go!”

Ty gives them a minute, then runs back. Anders is still curled up, holding his ribs, his breathing sounding awfully close to sobs.

“Can you get up?” says Ty, horribly afraid. Pete and his mates are huge, they’re all on the rugby team, and his own panic is rising as Anders doesn’t move. “Anders, are you okay? Anders? I’ll get Mike to carry you back, you wait here, okay? I’ll be back in a second-”

“Just ge’ – get me up,” Anders mumbles. As Ty helps him to his feet, Anders drags a sleeve across his eyes, then his nose. It comes away stained with blood, and Anders turns even paler. “Let’s get ou' ... here.”

“Can you walk?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Jus’ go.”

Immediately Anders’s legs nearly fold under him, but Ty won’t let him collapse. Painfully, Anders manages to limp along, steps quickening as they near home.

“Don’t go so fast, you’re going to trip!”

“They migh’ ... back.”

They break into an almost run.

“Mike!” Ty yells. For once Anders doesn’t tell him off for shouting in his ear. “Mike!” 

* * *

Mike hears the yelling from where he’s finishing his lunch. Looking out the kitchen window, he sees his two kid brothers running along the road. Anders is holding his side, nearly doubled over, blood pouring freely from his nose; Ty’s got a death grip on Anders’s arm that’s slung over Ty's shoulder. In two steps Mike’s out the door.

“What the hell happened?” he demands.

“Pete Henderson,” pants Ty.

Anders makes his last mistake of the day when he breaks into a full run that’s painful to even watch. As he staggers towards Mike, he trips over a tree branch and nearly falls. Mike catches him just in time as they all reach the gate.

“Fuck, Anders!” says Mike, startled at how bad it is. “You look like shit!”

Anders’s lips curl in a crooked smile.  “I think I messed up, Mike,” he half-whispers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elisabet finds out - sort of. Axl is a precious baby.

They’re sitting around Mike’s work table in the shed as though they’re holding a council of war, and maybe that’s what it is. Mike has patched Anders up as best he can.

“Anders went to talk to her,” says Ty. “I saw you, don’t bother lying. You tried to talk to her during break yesterday.”

Anders scowls. “What, can’t I talk to her?”

“Not when you don’t want her boyfriend to find out you slept with her, moron,” says Mike. “Why’d you do it?”

Anders’s shrug doesn’t manage to pass off as casual.

“ _Why,_ Anders.”

“She kept ignoring me.” Anders slides down in his seat a little. “She wouldn’t look at me. I just – wanted –”

“Another round, is that it?” says Mike in exasperation. “Are you always going to be thinking with your dick from now on?”

“ _No_ ,” says Anders, “I only wanted – she wouldn’t even look at me!”

Mike looks at his younger brother, confused resentment written in the way he aims a kick at the table leg, and he reminds himself that Anders’s fifteenth birthday is still a month away and Sara was his first. “Quit your sulking,” he says. “So he found out?”

“He started asking.” Anders is still scowling. “Bet it was that cow Katie Newman who told him. She’s the one who told me he knew, and she looked happy about it. And she said, ‘Bet you wish you’d gone for me instead,’ before she walked off.”

Mike blinks. “Was that – was she – what, did she want you too?”

The look Anders sneaks at him is half-embarrassed, half-cocky. “I reckon.”

There are times when Mike doesn’t understand how Anders’s brain works. “Stop looking so smug, you idiot. You’re wearing your face inside out.”

“So what are you going to do about Pete?” says Ty, looking at Mike.

“I’ll sort him.”

“You going to beat him up?” Anders asks eagerly.

“Probably not.”

“Why not? He beat me to a pulp!” Anders touches the bruise at the corner of his mouth and winces. “He got me big time, Mike.”

“Because you screwed his girlfriend, so shut it.”

“So what, you’re just going to talk to him?”

“Probably.”

“Great,” says Anders. “Yeah, that’s going to work. Talking.”

“I said I’ll sort him. You work on leaving Sara Carlsen alone.”

“Fine.”

“I mean it, Anders.”

“I said fine! Okay? It’s not like she wants to talk to me anyway.”

Mike catches the sliver of hurt peeking out from under Anders’s sullenness, but there’s nothing he can do about it. Sara Carlsen is a player, and she played Anders. He might as well learn to deal with it sooner rather than later.

“What’re we going to tell Mum?” Ty asks.

“We’re not telling her the truth,” says Anders at once. “Just say I tripped.”

“Because that’s totally going to work,” says Mike. “It’s going to come out anyway, Anders.”

“I don’t want her involved,” says Anders stubbornly. “It’s none of her business.”

“She’s our mother.”

“I don’t care. And neither does she.”

“She cares!” says Ty, bristling instantly. “Mum cares about us, okay?”

“Oh yeah?” sneers Anders.

“Break it up,” says Mike, heading things off before it launches into a full-blown quarrel. “If you want to tell Mum you ran into a tree multiple times, that’s your call, but I’m not explaining it for you.”

“Whatever.”

* * *

Despite his bravado, Anders hides slightly behind Mike when they enter the house, keeping his head down. Elisabet hardly spares them a glance, stirring a pot of sauce with Axl clutching her skirt. “Axl, let Mum go. I need to get something from the – so you boys are back. Did any of you think to come help me with dinner before you disappeared? Ty, get me the cheese from the fridge. The rest of you set the table. Axl, Mum is going to trip and fall on you! And I will break your bones!”

As Mike silently grabs Axl, who’s chattering on happily about the cat that wandered into their backyard today, Anders gets the plates and glasses. Within a few minutes, dinner is ready and they’re seated around the table. Only then does Elisabet get a good look at them.

“What’s happened? Anders?”

Anders has been keeping his gaze on his plate of spaghetti, as though he’s reverted to the childhood fiction of if-I-can’t-see-you-then-you-can’t-see-me-too. When he glances up guiltily, the light falls on him fully, and he looks worse than ever.

Elisabet sighs. “All right, out with it. What happened?”

“We were playing rugby in school today,” mumbles Anders.

“Anders is too small to play rugby properly,” says Ty in a well-meaning attempt to prop up the lie. Anders glares at him.

“Uh huh. The only way anyone gets like that is if the entire rugby team stampeded across their face. Did someone do this to you? Mike?”

“I didn’t touch him!” says Mike indignantly. “Anders –” his brother shoots him a look that’s both threat and plea, “Anders – annoyed someone in school because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.” Which is true enough. In a sense.

Elisabet purses her lips. “Great. Why am I not surprised? Maybe this will teach you to stop being such a smart-aleck.”

Anders doesn’t say anything. Instead Axl starts demanding to be fed.

After Axl is pacified, Elisabet looks across the table at her second son. “Well? Is whoever this is going to come after you again?”

“No,” says Anders, “he got what he wanted.”

“Good.” Elisabet’s eyes soften slightly as she watches Anders poking at his spaghetti. A bit brusquely, she asks, “Anything broken?”

“No, nothing,” says Mike. “I cleaned him up.”

“Did you put antiseptic cream on the cuts? The one above his eyebrow looks worse than the rest.”

“Yeah, I sorted him.”

“Anything else besides his face?”

“Bit bruised up, but nothing serious.”

“It is serious too!” says Ty.

“Anders, come here.”

“I’m fine,” says Anders. “I’m okay!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“All right.” Elisabet shakes her head. “Anders, try to stop annoying people. I’ve warned you time and again about your smart mouth.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Axl, what have I told you about eating with your hands?”

But Mike catches the look in Anders’s eyes before Anders’s gaze drops back to his plate, and he thinks, _yes it’s true that Anders is a smartarse, but sometimes it wouldn’t hurt for him to get a bit of coddling from Mum_.  


But because Mike is only a brother and not a dad or a mum, he doesn’t say anything.

* * *

“Anders all hurt,” says Axl, reaching up towards Anders’s face.

Anders slaps Axl’s baby hands away. “Don’t touch.”

“But hurt!”

“Like I didn’t notice.”

“You don’t have to be so mean to him,” says Ty.

“Poor Anders,” says Axl, blissfully unaware of Anders’s tone. “I kiss you and it all better?”

“No it won’t.”

“Yes will!”

“Go away.”

Ignoring Anders, Ty quickly hoists Axl up enough to plant a big smacking wet kiss on Anders’s less bruised cheek.

“Oh come on!” Anders half-yells in disgust. “Get off, Axl, stop slobbering on me!”

“Love Anders,” says Axl solemnly. “Poor Anders.”

“Give him a hug,” says Ty.

“Ow, bloody hell!”

“But gently!”

“Bit late for that, isn’t it?” demands Anders.

“Sorry Anders,” says Axl, climbing into Anders’s lap. “See what Mike give me? I give you.” And a fistful of grimy gummy bears emerges from Axl’s pocket and scatters on Anders’s bedspread.

“And what am I supposed to do with this?” asks Anders, though less sharply than before.

“Eat!” Axl grabs one and beheads it happily, then picks up one and holds it up to Anders’s mouth. “Eat and you feel all happy like me.”

“For the love of –”

Anders doesn’t get to finish the sentence – Axl seizes the opportunity to shove the lolly in.

“Get him out of here,” Anders orders once he’s done making faces and swallowing. “I’ve got enough to do without being force-fed unhygienic crap.”

“He’s just trying to cheer you up,” says Ty, lugging Axl off. “Come on Axl, it’s your bedtime anyway.”

“But Anders hurt.”

“Yes.”

“Anders hug.”

“Go away.”

“Hug!” says Axl insistently, holding up his arms.

Anders glares, but Axl can be stubborn.

“I don’t want a hug.”

“Don’t worry, I be gentle with you,” Axl says encouragingly.

Giving in, Anders bends down and gives him a quick hug, but Axl won’t have any of that. He seizes on to Anders tightly and plants another wet kiss on his cheek. Ty sees how the tiny lines on Anders’s forehead relax even as he complains about saliva, and Ty grins to himself.

But it’s short-lived. Elisabet comes to the door. “Axl, you’re supposed to be in bed,” she says. “Where’s Mike?”

“In his room,” says Ty as Axl lets go and Anders turns away, his expression closing off.

“He’s supposed to put Axl to bed. Axl, have you brushed your teeth?”

“No don’t want.” Axl quickly shoves the rest of his gummy bear in his mouth.

Elisabet looks at her youngest son more closely. “Have you been eating lollies?” she says exasperatedly. “I said no more. Who’s been giving them – Anders. Don’t let your brother eat all those lollies, I’ve told all of you about this!”

“It wasn’t me!” Anders says, outraged. “He dumped them on my bed, Mike gave them to him!”

“Have you finished your homework?”

“Sort of.”

“I don’t want to hear sort of. Finish it and go to sleep. Ty, get Mike to sort Axl out and finish yours too. I’m going to bed, I’m exhausted.”  


* * *

Later that night, Mike’s just tucked Axl in. He pauses in the corridor on the way to his room when he hears voices coming from Anders’s room.

“Just leave it, Ty!”

“But it’s not like she didn’t try! She cares, she wouldn’t have asked about your face otherwise!”

“Do I look like whatever Mum does bothers me?”

“Then why are you in such a bad temper?”

“Maybe because I got the crap punched out of me today, moron!”

“Yeah, right.”

“I said shut up. And get out of my room.”

“Anders –”

“Do _you_ want to know how a punch in the face feels like?”

There’s a sound of frustration from Ty, and he emerges from the room, looking grumpy.

“Anders is being a knob,” he says unnecessarily as he sees Mike.

“I can tell,” Mike replies dryly.

“Am not!” yells Anders through the door.

“Anders!” comes Elisabet’s voice. “Stop shouting in the house!”

Anders’s pillow hits the other side of the door with a muffled thud. Shaking his head, Mike orders Ty to leave Anders alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to capture the complicated relationship Anders must have had with Elisabet. I think she tried to be a good mother, just that parents don't always recognise the big moments in their children's lives when they have to step up otherwise the relationship takes a significant blow. My mum certainly didn't, sometimes.
> 
> Baby Axl's modelled a little (or a lot) off my baby brother. "don't worry, I'll be gentle with you" is a direct quote from when he wanted to hug our unwilling, seven-years-older-than-him brother.


End file.
